10 Creatives Ways to Use Beans in Food Storage – even if you hate them

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Even if you hate beans, they’re perfect for your food storage because they are so versatile in so many ways. Trust me, I used to be like you.

There’s a food storage mantra: Store what you eat, and eat what you store.

While I hold to that mantra 99% of the time, there’s a tiny 1% that I fudge on.

Beans.

I hate beans (sort of like how I hate celery). I dislike the texture tremendously. But I will tell you a secret. I do store beans because I’ve found a few ways to include their nutritional benefit, even if I don’t like them.

So let’s all agree that beans are really good for you, but we need to come up with some creative ways to use these legumes, rather than just in a soup or a pile next to meat on our plates or as art projects for our kids, or as pie weights (hey – that’s a couple of creative uses right there!).

The secret is learning how to incorporate beans into your diet in alternative ways!

Creative Ways to Use Beans in Food Storage

This is where I feel like I can sound like Bubba and his shrimp fascination from Forrest Gump. There’s garlic hummus and lemon hummus and beet hummus and chocolate hummus (YES, it’s a thing – glory be!) and buffalo hummus. So many different ways to use a simple bean to create a versatile paste that can be used as a dip or as a sandwich spread.

The great thing is that traditionally Meditarenean dish made from chickpeas, tahini (sesame seed paste), oil and spices can be switched up to use other beans as well.

BEAN DIPS

I’m going to tell a story about my brother. I hope he never reads this.

When he was little, the kid would eat the canned bean dip you get in the chip section like chocolate. He loved the stuff. For years. Then one day, he made the mistake of asking what was in it. Like me, he great up hating beans. He never touched the stuff again.

Like hummus, bean dips can be used to bring boldness to snacking or meals and allow you to rotate through your food storage beans.

Spicy bean dips can be a great accompaniment to adding flavor to a meal that might otherwise be blah.

BEAN FLOURS

Bean flours are being used all over to replace wheat, where wheat is not readily available, or just to have different flavor profiles for baked goods. Different beans produce different color flours and consistencies.

BEANS AS THICKENERS

Bean flours

Bean Flour is a great way to create the “cream of something soup” texture in many dishes. You can use it as a way to replace many ‘creamer’ ingredients in Meals in a Jar recipes that are shelf stable (and great ways to create emergency meals for your pantry or as gifts).

Bean Purees

If you don’t want to store bean flour or grind it yourself, you can thicken a soup with beans pureed with water and add to your soup base.

It adds loads of protein and fiber without a ton of added calories. Just be sure to use a more neutral flavor bean for the soup you’re trying to thicken.

BEAN SPROUTS

Beans are, in effect, seeds for the next generation. There is a huge variety and most can be used to sprout and eat on salads or used within recipes. In some cases, sprouting actually makes the bean more digestible and allows some enzymes to be more readily available for your body.

There’s a wealth of knowledge in how to use sprouts and various sprout recipes here. It’s more than just a pile on top of a healthy sandwich.

OIL & BUTTER REPLACEMENT

Replace Butter and Oil in baking

You can use more than applesauce and chia seeds to replace butter and oils in baking!

► To replace oil: Use a 1:1 ratio with bean puree. A bean puree is beans with some water enough to make them like applesauce or hummus. If using canned beans, be sure to drain and rinse before using.

► To replace butter: Mash the beans instead of pureeing them for the thicker consistency of butter.

SMOOTHIES

WAIT! Don’t go..really – you’ll want to learn how to use beans as a protein power punch instead of using those expensive protein powders (though we are partial to using peanut butter powder in a variety of ways!).

Consider black beans in a chocolate based smoothie or cannellini beans for a vanilla based smoothie. Here are a few other ideas to help make creamier smoothies, without adding expensive protein powders or added dairy.

DOG FOOD *

Special Thanks * – I want to thank all my gals at Stock Your Pantry – Purposefully – our food storage group on Facebook. They gave me quite a few ideas to add to our staples. We’d love to have you come join us!

The Great Vegan Bean Book by Kathy Hester. Not only does this book do a great job of incorporating beans into your meals, but there are also lots of hints and recipes to help you use them in baking, sweets and more.

I would experiment by doing 1/2 and 1/2 first. Not all recipes will respond the same, but you can certainly swap portions of bean flour. I usually do 1/4 bean to 3/4 flour because I want the boost of fiber and protein. But in many recipes, you can do more. I doubt a regular bread recipe you’re used to eating with white flour is going to taste great using chickpea flour – plus you’d have to add some vital gluten back in to make it work correctly. So play around to find what you like.

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I'm Darcy! I've spent the last twenty years learning how to stretch our budget to meet the needs of our growing family, all while making a home be a space more than just a place to sleep and eat. I believe in having a purpose in all aspects of our lives - including the pantry and our home. Let me show you how to create a pantry and home that has greater purpose... Read More…

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